After time trials Nov. 16, the indoor track team is optimistic it will have another successful season. The team hopes its increased depth will make up for the loss of last year’s key runners.
The squad participated in a selective meet Dec. 11 at Prince George’s Sports Complex in Landover, MD for the top three athletes of each event. The Bulldogs will end the month with an all-encompassing meet Dec. 26 with schools from around the county.
“We are going to have major competition with Quince Orchard and Wootton, but this year there is no dominant team,” coach Paul Jacobson said. “The county is wide open.”
The athletes look to improve in every aspect to make up for the lost talent and welcome back runners who have missed time due to injury, including senior Julien Weinstein and sophomore 800 meter state champion Lucy Srour.
“We lost a lot of talent last year, losing half of the 4×2 and 4×4 teams, so we will have to practice harder to make up for it,” senior captain Kyle Veator said.
The team continued its season with an individual meet for top runners Dec. 8 at Prince George’s Sports Complex. CHS runners included senior captain Mike Hammer, sophomore David Fitzgerald and sophomore Noah Jankel.
“We did well, proving that we are ready for a strong season,” Hammer said. “However, right now we need to improve our fitness since we just finished the offseason by working hard in practice and going to the weight room after.”
The squad began its season with a non-competitive MCPS scrimmage Dec. 1. The scrimmage was just a practice run against the clock with no results recorded for competition, but it was still important to assess the current state of the team.
“We did better than a lot of other schools at the scrimmage,” Veator said. “We had some people run personal records, but there is still room for improvement.”
While the team is full of young talent and is relatively inexperienced, expectations are still high for a successful and positive ending to the season.
“I think it is up to the experienced runners and veterans to pass on their knowledge to the young and new runners,” Hammer said. “Hopefully this leadership will bring out the best of all of us so we can prove that our team is among the best.”
